κρατύς

Forms

κρᾰτῠ́ς (kratús) m (feminine κρᾰτεῖα, neuter κρᾰτῠ́); first/third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *kr̥tús, from the root *kret-.^[1] It is the zero-grade adjective of the family of κράτος (krátos, “strength, power”), whose old full grade survives in Aeolic κρέτος (krétos); the same alternation is seen in βαθύς (bathús) beside βένθος (bénthos).^[2][3][4] Risch derived κραταιός (krataiós) from an old feminine of κρατύς.^[2][4]

No exact match to the family is found in the other Indo-European languages.^[2] The closest are Sanskrit क्रतु (krátu, “power, mind, will”) and, as Frisk adds, Old English cræft (“strength, power, skill”); the Germanic word for “hard” (heard) is often connected, though its vowel differs.^[2][3][1] Pokorny puts the family under a root *kar- (“hard”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found only in Homer and the Homeric Hymns, always in the line-end formula κρατὺς Ἀργειφόντης (kratùs Argeiphóntēs, “the mighty Argeiphontes”), an epithet of Hermes (Il. 16.181, 24.345, Od. 5.49).^[6][7][8][2]

Semantic evolution

Cunliffe and Autenrieth treat it as an equivalent of κρατερός (kraterós) “strong, mighty”, and Pape notes that only the nominative occurs.^[8][9][10] Hesychius glosses it with κρατερός and ἰσχυρός, “strong”.^[11] Its derivative κρατύνω (kratū́nō) “to strengthen, consolidate, rule” is found from the Iliad on, with later nouns such as κρατυσμός (kratusmós) “strengthening”.^[2][3]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it in the formula “mighty Argeiphontes”, of Hermes.^[8][6]
• 7th century BC – The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite repeats the formula.^[12][7]
• 5th century AD (probably) – Hesychius glosses it as “strong”.^[11][13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (epic) Strong, mighty; only as an epithet of Ἑρμῆς (Hermês).^[6][7][8]

Word family

• κρατύνω (kratū́nō)

Related words

• κράτος (krátos)
• κρατερός (kraterós)
• καρτερός (karterós)
• κραταιός (krataiós)
• κρείσσων (kreíssōn)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
5. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
6. ^ a b c Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
9. ^ Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, tr. Robert P. Keep, New York: Harper and Brothers
10. ^ Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
11. ^ a b Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
12. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
13. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge